Mason raker



MASON RAKER Filed June 4, 1956 IN VEN TOR.

A T rah/vs Y5 Thomas W Marmon Unied S ew Patent 0,

MASON RAKER Thomas W. Marmon, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Application June 4, 1956, Serial No. 589,028 1 Claim. (Cl. 72-138) This invention relates to mason tools for raking mortar 'oints. 1 Different types of tools have been used for smoothing out the joint between blocks or bricks in a masonry construction job. These tools are basically classed in two classes-strikers and rakers. Strikers consist of a rounded member which has a greater diameter than the width of the joint. A striker is merely run over the joint removing all excess mortar from the face and smoothing it to a, certain extent. The raker is a more difficult tool-,to operate. It requires raking out the mortar in the joint to a certain depth, and then smoothing the mortar. This invention relates. to a mason tool for raking, such tool being commonly referred to as a raker.

There are several types of rakers that to my knowledge have been used. None of these tools has ever been completely satisfactory. One disadvantage of the tools is the short life duration resulting from running the tool across the hard abrasive blocks or bricks. Another disadvantage of present day rakers is variation in the joint depth. Further, most rakers are not equipped to provide a neat and smooth finished joint. Those that do p-ro vide a smooth joint require time-consuming and painstaking labor.

The primary object of this invention is to provide a raker that does a better raking job.

Another object of this invention is to provide a raker with which constant depth and smooth and even mortar joints are easily obtained.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a raker that is easy to operate.

A further object of this invention is to provide a raker that simplifies the raking operation by reducing the number of strokes required.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a raker that is easy to manufacture but still strong, durable, and wear-resistant.

Other objects of my invention will become obvious upon reading the following specification in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is an oblique view of my raker in the operation of raking a mortar joint of a wall.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged, wide elevational view with parts in section of the head of my raker illustrating the relationship of the runners and the rake.

Fig. 3 is a side elevational view of my raker with the handle in one inclined position.

Fig. 4 is another side elevational view with the handle of my raker in another inclined position.

Briefly this invention is concerned with a mason tool for raking a mortar joint between blocks or bricks. This mason tool comprises three arcuate shaped tines including two runners on each side of a rake. All the tines are substantially the same curvature. The rake has a bottom raking surface spaced below the bottom running surfaces of the runners.

In the preferred form of this invention the rake has a dished end extending upwardly from the plane of the finished mortar when said tool is normally operated whereby in one sweep of the tool the mortar ahead of the tool is raked out by the dished end and then compressed and finished by the remaining portion of the rake.

In describing my invention by the use of the word bottom I mean the surface nearest the inside face of the wall when the rake is in operation. Upwardly means in a direction away from the inside face of the wall as shown in Figs. 3 and 4 Referring to the drawings reference numeral 10 denotes the raking tool which includes the handle 11 and the raking head 12. The raking head includes three arcuate shaped tines or fingers. These tines or fingers are the runners 13 and the rake 14. The runners 13 are located on each side of the rake 14, the rake being offset from the runners as shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

Essentially, the entire operating portions of the tines including the runners 13 and rake 14 are of substantially the same arcuate shape. In other words, the arc ascribed by the bottom runner surfaces 15 and the bottom raking surface 16 lie substantially on the arcs of concentric circles. This relationship is illustrated in Fig. 2, where the radiuses r1 of the runners and the radius r2 of the rake meet at the same center of radius 0. This curvature of the runner and raking surfaces is provided to maintain the constant depth of the rake 14. This will be explained in more detail under the heading Operations.

The three tines including the runners 13 and the rake 14 are all connected together at the web portion 18 of the tool. The web portion extends to and is integral with the handle 11.

The rake 14 is of a width that corresponds with the desired Width of the mortar joint 30. An important feature of the rake 14 is the shape of its end. In the position as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the end 17 is dished upwardly from the plane 31 of the finished mortar joint. In other words, the very tip of the rake 17 when the tool is placed on a finished joint, is spaced above the joint. This is true for the normal inclined positions of the handle 11. Such positions are those illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4. The tip of the end 17 is dished in this fashion so that as the tool is pushed forwardly the end will rake out the mortar and the remaining portion of the rake will compress and finish the mortar joint.

On the other end of the handle 11 is a second raking head 22 having the runners 23 and the rake 24. This raking head is identical to raking head 12 except for the width of the rake. It is either slightly larger or smaller in order to accommodate wider or narrower mortar joints.

This tool is constructed of A steel plate. It can be formed by machining and bending the parts into the appropriate shape. The easiest method of manufacturing this raker is to stamp it from 4" sheet steel. The steel of this raker is preferably wear-resistant. For that purpose any other material can be used.

Operations The operation of this raker is simple. Whereas in other rakers of its type several strokes are required to obtain a neat and even mortar joint, with this tool one stroke will accomplish the desired purpose and provide a mortar joint that is more even and smoother.

The raker is operated simply by placing the rake in the mortar joint and then pushing the tool along with the handle slightly inclined from the masonry work. As the tool is being pushed along, the end 17 gouges or rakes out the mortar ahead of the tool. The runners 13 ride on bricks 40. Then the remaining portion of the rake 0 a which acts like a ski slowly compresses and finishes the mortar joint. With the proper size rake the entire raking and smoothing operation is accomplished with one stroke.

The parallel curvatures of the runners 13 and rake 14 provide a raker that will give a constant depth to the joint regardless of the angle at which the tool is operated. Figs. 3 and 4 illustrate this principle. Fig. 3 shows the handle 11 in one position. Fig. 4 shows the handle rocked upwardly from the position of Fig. 3. It should be evident that because of the parallel curvatures of the runners and rake the depth which the rake extends into the joint is constant. Thus, an even depth joint is always obtained without necessitating extreme careful operation of the tool.

In some cases, the raker is not the exact width as the joint. In such cases two strokes may be required. In the first stroke the raker is held against one line of bricks or blocks and pushed forwardly in the manner previously described. In the second stroke, the rake is moved against the next adjacent blocks and it is pulled in the other direction. These two strokes result in even and smooth mortar joint, which heretofore has been obtained only by long and tedious time-consuming operations.

It should be evident that my raker is easier to operate than other rakers. The shape of the rake provides a more even and smoother joint. My raker is easy to manufacture and is strong, durable and wear-resistant.

Having described my invention, it should be understood that I have shown one embodiment. Several other modifications and embodiments are possible within the scope of this invention. Therefore, these modifications and embodiments should be considered as covered by this invention except that the appended claim expressly states otherwise.

I claim:

A mason tool for raking a mortar joint comprising: a handle; a pair of spaced guide runner fingers on one end of said handle and each having runner surfaces curved along the segment of a circle; a raking finger member on said one end of said handle, located between the guide runner fingers and having a curved raking surface spaced radially outwardly from said runner surfaces; said runner fingers and raking finger member each having a free end and an opposite end integral with the handle; the curvature of said raking surface being parallel to said runner surfaces whereby the deepest penetration of said raking surface into a mortar joint is the same regardless of the position of said handle in being rocked from one end to the other end of said curved runner surfaces.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,193,478 Downs Aug. 1, 1916 1,310,639 Thorson et al July 22, 1919 

